DAN WALLACE last night roared a battle cry for Scotland as he delivered an astonishing gold medal in the pool.

The 21-year-old from Edinburgh yelled “FOR FREEDOM” as he bashed the water in undiluted delight at winning the 400m individual medley in front of a sell-out celebrating crowd at Tollcross.

Wallace watched Braveheart as part of his preparations – yet his own freedom was put at risk in March when he was caught urinating on an American police car during a drinking spree to celebrate his birthday.

The Florida-based student was arrested but later released – however his University banned him for a spell and he feared Team Scotland would do the same in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games.

Wallace though, learned his lesson, buckled down and got his reward last night.

He said: “I was very close to losing my place. I got to the point in my life where I had to re-evaluate which path I wanted to take.

“And I chose the right one. It has ended in a gold medal for me and the whole of Scotland so I’m very happy with that.

“It was a wake-up call. I responded well to that and turned my life around.

“I’ve had some real highs and lows in and out the pool and the bottom line is I’ve really come to see who I am as a person and what I can achieve. This is just the beginning.

“The way I’m looking at things now there’s nothing stopping me.

“If I didn’t wake up thinking I could do it the medal win wouldn’t have happened.

“I believed in myself, my team-mates believed in me and the rest of Scotland believed in me and that’s what makes it all worth it.

“I’m a professional athlete and everything you have to do is in moderation and it has paid off.

“My performance tonight has really overshadowed everything that has happened in the last few years and this is what I’ll be remembered for.”

Wallace’s performance was the highlight of a night that also brought a swimming bronze from Corrie Scott in the 50m breaststroke.

But there was more disappointment for Michael Jamieson, who failed to qualify for the 100m breaststroke final and admitted he just couldn’t get himself up for it after his failure to land gold in the 200m on Thursday.

He said: “I’m going to be a cheerleader now and support the rest of the team.”

Ross Murdoch and Craig Benson made to the 100m final but there was no repeat of the gold won by Robbie Renwick in the 400m freestyle in Delhi four years ago.

The Scot finished fifth in the final then helped us to a fourth place finish in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.